Mulberry Plantation – Moncks Corner – Berkeley County

— Mulberry Plantation Aerial © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Basic Information

• Location – Western branch of the Cooper River, Moncks Corner, St. John's Berkeley Parish, Berkeley County

  Located off Old Highway 52 on North Mulberry Road near Oakley
  

• Origin of name – Was probably named for a large, wild mulberry tree that grew on a hill (9, VII: 12)
  

• Other names – Polly, Mulberry Castle, Salt Point, South Mulberry
  

• Current status – Privately owned – In 2015, the plantation was put on the market with an asking price of $17,500,000 and was still for sale as of February 2017 with price reduction to $14,700,000. View the real estate listing here.

— Mulberry Plantation House © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Timeline

• 1679 – Earliest known date of existence (1) (4, p. 23) (7, p. 31)
  

  Sir Peter Colleton was granted 4,423 acres which was located on the south boundary of his Fairlawn Barony (1) (4, p. 23) (7, p. 31).
  

• 1694 – Sir John Colleton, a minor at the time, inherited all of his father's (Sir Peter) property in the Carolinas (4, p. 23) (7, p. 32).
  

• 1708 – Sir John Colleton sold to Thomas Broughton 4,423 acres of the Fairlawn Barony (probably the same acreage that was granted to Sir Peter in 1679) that was known as Mulberry Plantation. Thomas Broughton quickly began establishing a settlement at Mulberry but learned that boundary confusion had lead to him erecting buildings on land that still belonged to Sir Colleton. The men exchanged 300 acre plots with Broughton receiving the acreage where his settlement was and Sir Colleton got 300 acres that adjoined his Fairlawn Baroney as well as an additional 120 pounds as payment (1) (4, p. 24) (7, p. 32).
  

• 1714 – House built (11)
  

  Thomas Broughton built the house in the Jacobean baroque style and is said to have been a reproduction of his family's English estate. Broughton called his house Mulberry Castle. It is the third oldest house in South Carolina (4, p. 24) (11).
  

• 1715 – During the Yemassee War, a number of people took refuge at Mulberry as the house had been constructed over a fortified cellar fort with firing slits in the foundation walls (2, p. 2) (4, p. 24).
  

• 1737 – Thomas Broughton died and his will stipulated that Mulberry was to be his widow's for life then the plantation was to pass to his son, Captain Nathaniel Broughton (1) (6, p. 25) (11).
  

• 1742 – Honorable John Colleton (son of Sir John) conveyed to Nathaniel Broughton 211 acres of the 300 acres that their fathers had traded in the earlly 1700s (7, p. 32).
  

• ? – Nathaniel Broughton's son, Thomas Broughton, was the plantation's next owner (6, p. 66).
  

• Circa 1820 – Thomas Milliken acquired the property (8, p. 89).
  

• ? – Thomas Milliken's grandson, T.G. Barker, would inherit the plantation through his mother Ellen Milliken Barker (8, p. 89).
  

• 1901 – Charles Washington Seignious's obituary stated he owned Mulberry Plantation at the time of his death. It is assumed he acquired the property through marriage (13).
  

• 1915 – Mulberry Plantation was sold to Clarence Edward Chapman. Mr. Chapman restored the house (8, p. 91).
  

• Circa 1932 – Mr. Milliken owned Mulberry Plantation (8, p. 54).
  

• Circa 1946 – Lawrence Walker purchased the plantation for use by his family and opened the plantation's gardens to the public (14).
  

• 1952 – Lawrence Walker sold Mulberry after it's location proved to be too remote to attract enough paying visitors (14).
  

• ? – Mrs. Marion "Franny" Brawley acquired Mulberry (2, p. 1).
  

• Circa 1966 – Frances Atkins purchased Mulberry from Mrs. Marion Brawley (2, p. 1).
  

• ? – Charles Atkins acquired the plantation (14).
  

• 1987 – The Historic Charleston Foundation purchased Mulberry Plantation from Charles Atkins for $2.86 million to save the property from development (11) (12) (14).
  

• 1988 – S. Parker Gilbert, who once ran Morgan Stanley, and his wife Gail Gilbert purchased the plantation from the Historic Charleston Foundation for $2.55 million to restore and persevere it. The Gilberts also constructed a guest house on the property that is called North Mulberry (11) (12).
  

• 1991 – The Gilberts purchased South Mulberry Plantation and added it back to Mulberry Plantation (11) (12).
  

• 2015 – After the death of her husband, Gail Gilbert put Mulberry Plantation up for sale with an asking price of $17.5 million. There are conservation easements with the Historic Charleston Foundation and Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust on the plantation (10) (11).
  

— Mulberry Plantation Entrance © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Land

• Number of acres – 4,423 in 1708; 4,634 in 1742; 800 in 1988; 1,705 in 2015 including 2 miles of Cooper River water frontage
  

• Primary crop – Rice

• The grounds around the house were landscaped for Mr. and Mrs. Chapman by Loutrel W. Briggs.
  

— Aerial View of Mulberry Plantation © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

— Mulberry Plantation, Circa 1922 —
(Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and of the Early Republic, p. 94)

References & Resources

1. Brief history of Mulberry Plantation and the Broughton Family: Click here

2. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1966
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

3. 30-15 Plantation File, held by the South Carolina Historical Society
   –  Research Guide
   

4. Maxwell Clayton Orvin, Historic Berkeley County, South Carolina: 1671-1900 (Self published, 1973)
    Order Historic Berkeley County, South Carolina: 1671-1900

5. Carolina W. Todd and Sidney Wait, South Carolina: A Day at a Time (Orangeburg, SC: Sandlapper Publishing Company, 2008)
   

6. William P. Baldwin, Jr., Plantations of the Low Country; South Carolina, 1697-1865 (Greensboro, NC: Legacy Publications, 1987)
    Order Plantations of the Low Country; South Carolina, 1697-1865
   

7. J. Russell Cross, Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley (Columbia, SC: R.L. Bryan Company, 1985)
    Order Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley

8. John Beaufain Irving, A Day on Cooper River (1842) (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010)
   

9. Claude Henry Neuffer, editor, Names in South Carolina, Volume I through 30 (Columbia, SC: The State Printing Company)
    Order Names in South Carolina, Volumes I-XII, 1954-1965
    Order Names in South Carolina, Index XIII-XVIII
   

10. Grapevine: Historic Plantation Outside Charleston is on the Market (Charleston, SC: The Post & Courier, November 15, 2015).
    

11. Information from the real estate listing developed by agent Chip Hall – view it here.
    

12. Katy McLaughlin, Former Morgan Stanley Chairman S. Parker Gilbert's Plantation Lists for $17.5 Million (New York, NY: The Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2015).
    

13. Information contributed by Steven D. Ayres whose great-grandfather, Charles Washington Seignious, at one time owned the plantation.
    

14. Robert Behre, Plantation's Future Secured By Charleston Foundation, Owners (Charleston, SC: The Post and Courier, December 26, 2015).
    

— North Mulberry Guest House © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

— Mulberry Plantation Dining Room © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

— Den of Mulberry Plantation © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

— Mulberry Plantation Rice Fields © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

— Mulberry Plantation Garden © Chip Hall, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)